Women's football

[berin]

Who cares?


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[Papa Hotel]

I don't know but I've noticed a hell of a lot of effort being put into trying to convince us it's worth watching. I've watched the odd 15 minutes here and there, it's quite honestly rubbish.

It's different from sports like tennis in that the men's and women's games rely on different skills and so a women's tennis match is every bit as entertaining as a men's game, often moreso. In football (and rugby), a lack of strength, skill, fitness, tactical awareness, bravery are all easily exposed and do not make for good entertainment so quite why we're being subjected to this stuff really only has one (cliched) answer: it's political correctness gone mad, innit.

[SteveR]

The way the media try to ram it down our throats makes me want to avoid it more. What I've seen of it is, as above, really quite crap.

[pacifichrono]

The way the media try to ram it down our throats makes me want to avoid it more. What I've seen of it is, as above, really quite crap.

Who says women's football is crap?

[bloater]

Can't wait for the WSL to start this weekend, personally.
It's my teams first year in it, Yeovil Ladies so we're going to enjoy it.
Ok so the football may not be of the highest standard compared to the men's game but it's getting better, but they always want to win and don't just turn up to get paid like a lot of the blokes in football.

[afcneal]

As above, the lack of strenght and speed etc males it rathe pedestrian and not entertaining to watch - but it has got better in recent years. I wonder why they don't reduce the pitch size by 1/4 or so which would dilute the effects of speed/strenght etc?

What is noticeable though is the higher level of sportsmanship and when there is physical contact the lack of drama - so credit where it's due!

[berin]

I don't follow football at all, so where is women's football on the scale? For example, is a top league women's match the same as premier league or local league? If you put the top ladies team into the men's hierarchy where would it be to stand a chance of winning?

[NikGixer750]

not sure on the league's as I have never watched it, the only womens football I watched was England a few months back at the Euros, it was terrible, if they played the mens England team I could see it easily getting into double figures for the score

[Foxy100]

I have absolutely no interest in watching England mens football but I do enjoy the ladies matches. Can't explain why. Well, I do get get bored of seeing almost all the England players selected from the traditional top four teams (plus Leicester), but then lots of other teams have players selected from the traditional top four teams (plus Leicester). I think we'd do a lot better if there was a world cup made up from players only selected from second division teams!

I do enjoy watching the German mens team though.

[julian2002]

Reminds me of this... NSFW

[trident-7]

If they don't fall over & writhe in agony when touched by a little finger, I'm all for it

[afcneal]

If they don't fall over & writhe in agony when touched by a little finger, I'm all for it

Snigger.............

Childish I know, couldn't help myself...........

[reecie]

I used to play in a central London 8 aside league and when we were short we had to get players in from where ever we all worked. Maybe 15+ years ago we ended up playing an Arsenal ladies team player with everyone else playing male. She was pretty good and was quite skilful. But she was not in terms of the game as a whole any better than the rest of us. We were all bigger, faster and more aggressive and that makes quite a difference. I guess the rest of us were played for Uni or Sunday league standard. Then again we also had players in who supposedly played for various Mickey Mouse countries and they were generally worse than her too.

Whenever I see a ladies game the biggest problem area for me is that invariably the goalkeepers are really poor. It is such a key position and yet they never look that great.

[David_D]

I don't follow football at all, so where is women's football on the scale? For example, is a top league women's match the same as premier league or local league? If you put the top ladies team into the men's hierarchy where would it be to stand a chance of winning?

Not sure. It ain't Prem or Championship, that's for certain.

Agree with afcneal that the lack of power and pace seem the most obvious things that the women's game lacks.

I don't think anyone has an issue with women playing but, as others say, it's the idea that it's being pushed as somehow equivalent to the men's game that grates.

Haven't seen the BBC pushing men's netball ....

[berin]

Haven't seen the BBC pushing men's netball ....

No - what made me think about it is that there are women's football updates daily on BBC radio mainstream programming, and yet this year we have had some great results for British riders in MotoGP, not mentioned at all (or maybe a 2 liner at the back of the sports site). I know MotoGP isn't mainstream either, but it does get 100,000 attendances so it must be pretty popular, but it doesn't fit the BBC agenda.

[Neil.C]

Boring as hell but I guess cheap to televise for the Beeb? "Look we've got football on!"

You only have to look at the attendances to see what a draw it is..

[BadgerUK]

Women's sport in general seems to be being rammed down peoples throats currently across the media, but most men are simply not having it as currently the standards are woeful.

In my opinion the following women's sports have increased significantly in standard over the last few years:

Cycling,
Cricket,
Golf.

But I do strongly believe woman should not play rugby, boxing or this UFC chav fighting.

[alfat33]

But I do strongly believe woman should not play rugby, boxing or this UFC chav fighting.

Why?

[kace]

You don't get that in the mens game. (safe to watch)




I get quite annoyed by the way the BBC report womans football, Arsenal sign international striker gets my attention only to have the excitement crushed by finding out Sarah Smith will be playing for "us" next season.

As to the standard, I'd be surprised if a top team would beat a mens team from about the tenth tier

[pacifichrono]

If you enjoy women's professional tennis, you should also enjoy women's professional football (soccer). Their relationships to the men's games are the same (assuming you are a fan of both tennis and football).

It is not necessary for a tennis or football player to move faster than the eye can follow, or to hammer a ball through a brick wall for the game to be most entertaining. Sometimes the speed of a game is detrimental to a viewer's enjoyment (for me, that would be men's pro hockey!). Since the women's games aren't dominated by brute force and speed, they are better able to incorporate finesse and nuance into their games that offer an added dimension for the viewer.

Agree/disagree?

[Papa Hotel]

If you enjoy women's professional tennis, you should also enjoy women's professional football (soccer). Their relationships to the men's games are the same (assuming you are a fan of both tennis and football).

It is not necessary for a tennis or football player to move faster than the eye can follow, or to hammer a ball through a brick wall for the game to be most entertaining. Sometimes the speed of a game is detrimental to a viewer's enjoyment (for me, that would be men's pro hockey!). Since the women's games aren't dominated by brute force and speed, they are better able to incorporate finesse and nuance into their games that offer an added dimension for the viewer.

Agree/disagree?

Absolutely disagree. There is zero increase in finesse and nuance in the women's game, it lags behind the men's game in every department. If you think that the women make up for a lack of speed and strength with increased skill and tactics, you're so far off the mark I don't think we're even talking about the same game.

[berin]

If you enjoy women's professional tennis, you should also enjoy women's professional football (soccer). Their relationships to the men's games are the same (assuming you are a fan of both tennis and football).

It is not necessary for a tennis or football player to move faster than the eye can follow, or to hammer a ball through a brick wall for the game to be most entertaining. Sometimes the speed of a game is detrimental to a viewer's enjoyment (for me, that would be men's pro hockey!). Since the women's games aren't dominated by brute force and speed, they are better able to incorporate finesse and nuance into their games that offer an added dimension for the viewer.

Agree/disagree?

So why not go and watch a 10th league mens game at the local park, instead of all the bother of having to travel to a big stadium and queue up, since the consensus seems to be the standard will be about the same?

Or is that we should watch a fairly poor representation sport, in comparison with the top level that's achievable, just because it's being played by women? I'm not at all sure why anyone would want to do that, unless it's friends and family.

One of the few (only?) sports where there is no discrimination, by which I mean that men and women are treated equally and are represented by their merits and not their sex, is motorcycle racing. Ana Carrasco was the first woman to win a race in World Super Bike, winning the WSS 300 race last week. Didn't see that reported on the Beeb. Must be they hate motorbikes more than they like promoting PC!

[Thewatchbloke]

I enjoy the internationals but that's probably more to do with the fact Fran Kirby has been a friend of my daughters since primary school, it's a nice thought that an international player used to have kickabouts in our garden!

I agree the game is nowhere near the calibre of the mens but that's certainly not down to commitment, I think it will improve beyond all recognition over the coming years.

[kace]

Since the women's games aren't dominated by brute force and speed, they are better able to incorporate finesse and nuance into their games that offer an added dimension for the viewer.

I don't know how much exposure you've had to top level mens football but the skill level is not bettered in the womens game and the skill shown by the men is done under a pressure coming from the closing down and physical aspect absent from the womens game.


I think an entertaining sport could be in there somewhere, I suspect it needs to be on a smaller pitch with the goal made a tad smaller.

[Rob N]

It's the noise I can't stand. The screaming from the players was so bad in the rugby that I just couldn't watch it.
Don't get me started on tennis.......